11 September, 2006

ROSS: Yes, sitting in front of me now is the very beautiful Toyah Willcox.

TOYAH: Hello, how are you doing?

ROSS: Welcome to the show!

TOYAH:I’ve literally just sat down so that was really quick thinking of you!

ROSS: That was incredible, you turned up just as we were coming out of the break!

TOYAH:You’re a very calm man. It’s wonderful here today … I suppose you haven’t been able to walk around and have a look have you?

ROSS: It’s too cold to move anywhere! (laughs)

TOYAH:Well you need to be moving I suppose in weather like this.

ROSS: I’m hoping to get to get around and have good look at the stands later on today.

TOYAH:It’s really good.

Toyah met some wolvesafter the show

ROSS: Now what brought you to Spiritual Tides? Because obviously someone like yourself has always been known to have an interest in this sort of thing?

TOYAH:Well I definitely do have an interest and the reason I’m here is because I was invited to be here which is always flattering. I’ve never been to an event like this before where you’ve got so many cultural … spiritual things kind of under the one roof and really kind of exciting. I’m having a great day.

ROSS: It is.

TOYAH: I’m meeting a lot of like minded people which is nice as well. Obviously everyone’s really friendly but you kind of meet people who do crystal healing which I’m heavily into. You can’t MOVE round any of homes because crystals are everywhere. Also you got Reiki healers, you got psychics, it’s exciting, it’s very good.ROSS: And it’s something that’s coming so popular all over the world now, especially Reiki healing. Everybody’s either doing it or involved in it.

TOYAH: Well I very much believe in complementary therapies because I … there will become a time when you MUST be involved with y’know western medicine but I think what a lot of today is about, it’s about peace of mind, it’s about living a qualitative live, it’s about prevention as well.

I mean I practise homeopathy and that’s all about prevention rather than cure. It’s a way of life, it’s a lifestyle lets’s say. So I think all these things today are about having a better life and having …um, being in touch with your self. And it’s, as you say spiritual rather than … I don’t know … rather than kind of watching telly all day or something like that (laughs)

ROSS: Exactly right. Now what’s your feeling on the paranormal? Do you believe in sort of ghosts and-

TOYAH:I do believe in ghosts but my feeling is that we must let people move on in the spirits y’know when people pass away, let them move on. I think it’s sad if you need to hear from someone who’s past away. And obviously some people do but personally I think just let them go onto the next realm. But having said that I’ve had experiences all my life that are as clear as a bell, that prove that people can come back and visit you in the persona they were known for.ROSS: And have you seen what they would call a full body apparition?

TOYAH: Not full body. I see shadows.

ROSS: Right.

TOYAH: And I’m quite happy seeing shadows, I just let them go on their way and let them get on with things really. But that said I think the human being is so exceptional and very different to any other animal and mammal on this planet in that we have the power to believe.

And we have the power to pray and prayer for me makes things solid, it makes things tangible. And we must respect that and use it respectfully towards others. So I have a very broad kind of feeling about the power of our souls and our spirituality.ROSS: I think that’s very important. I did a TV series with Tom Baker called “Ghost Detectives” -

TOYAH:Yes.

ROSS: - for UK Horizons and we also did “Halloween Live” for ITV and I have to say I was a total sceptic when I started filming these things as a TV producer -

TOYAH:Ahahaha, let me tell you! I did a series called “Myths”... and something, we made it in the Meridian area with Brian Blessed, myself and Yvette Fielding a good ten years ago and I was sent off to film in Margate Theatre -

ROSS: Oh yeah, Theatre Royal?

TOYAH: And we had to spend the night there … aaaah! We LEFT. We were suppose to spend all night there with 8 other ghost busters. By one o’clock in the morning we were so freaked out! The camera crew refused to stay … so yeah -

ROSS: It’s an incredible place, we did one of our shows from there in“Ghost Detectives” and we had a clairvoyant who nearly jumped off the gallery about 40 feet up to her death (Toyah gasps) because she was convinced that she’s be taken over by somebody -

TOYAH:Yeah.

ROSS: - that had been killed there and she was recreated and she was a large lady, it took four of us to stop her going over the edge.

TOYAH:I’ve seen that kind of clairvoyants because I did “I’m Famous And Frightened” on SKY (TV) and we were working with Ian Lawman who's a very good clairvoyant and he’d get completely possessed by the spirits and it was quite frightening to be next to him. But the producers knew how to bring him back and you had to ground him again. But you can see that in that kind of clairvoyancy people do get taken over.

ROSS: Without a doubt. Well I do a program on Friday nights on a station here that’s now syndicated all over the world and it’s called “Now That’s Weird” and we talk about all of these things and we have fantastic quests on from everything from searching for the Holy Grail through to UFO’s and alien abductions -

TOYAH: Yeah.

ROSS: - right through to ghosts.

TOYAH:Well I’m the same. I love all that.

ROSS: It’s an amazing program because I get to speak to some fascinating people -TOYAH: Yeah.

ROSS: - and last week I had a guy on there who claims he’s got 100% proof we never went to the moon in 1969.

TOYAH:Do you know I feel that way too. I mean I don’t have proof but my instincts feel very strongly that that was a hoax.

ROSS: You should watch this DVD, it’s on Moonmovie.com You’ve got to get it.

TOYAH:Wow!

ROSS: It’s compelling. Penny and I watched it-

TOYAH:Yeah.

ROSS: - and we’re convinced now that we didn’t go, it’s absolutely amazing! Well let’s get down to some other things Toyah. Best known for your singing career?TOYAH:Yeah.

ROSS: More recently for your TV presentation. Which do you enjoy most?

TOYAH:Well I played to 16 000 people last weekend as a singer so I’m still enjoying that very much! I’m on tour for 3 months this year with Howard Jones and ABC and that starts in October so my singing is actually keeping me busier now than it ever has done. And when I get the odd day off I can do some telly but I just like working. I love it!

ROSS: Nothing wrong with that!

TOYAH:Nothing wrong at all.

ROSS: Now I have to admit I was a bit of a fan, “Thunder In The Mountains” is my favourite and I will be playing that in a little while when we finished the interview but an absolute fan of the stuff and funnily enough when I was in the music industry which I was for many years I ended up working with one of your producers, Nick Tauber -TOYAH:Oh yes! Now that’s really weird because Nick Tauber’s partner was a man called Nick Harding who I bumped into last week giving a conference coz I do motivational speaking about learning and further education for adults. And I bumped into him in Ipswich!

ROSS: Amazing, what a small world!

TOYAH:It’s a very small world and there’s lots of synchronicities out there!ROSS: Out of all the songs that you did through your pop career - what’s your personal favourite?

TOYAH: I can’t say I don’t love “It’s A Mystery” because it was my first hit and I respect that even though at the time I thought it was bit girly for me. I really don’t mind singing it and it’s always in my shows and I would never NOT do it.

ROSS:It’s one of my favourites as well and we play that a lot here, that’s weird. You BPL money will be on it’s way shortly.

ROSS: We will have to go and slap someone’s wrist for you … Now with gigs, have you any coming up in the South West of England?

TOYAH:Yeah well people have to look on toyahwillcox.com which is my website and Willcox has two L’s in it and Toyah has an H but yes I’m touring for October, November and December.

ROSS: That’s fantastic, well hopefully we’ll see you down there.

TOYAH: Yes.

ROSS: Because we live down in Devon and the station’s based in west Devon so…

TOYAH:Ah, OK, well look I am doing my One Woman Show at St Austell literacy festival on the 11th of May -ROSS: Oh fantastic. Maybe we’ll see you there?

TOYAH: Yeah.

ROSS: That’ll be great.

TOYAH: That’s just me and a guitarist and a I talk about my life and stuff and it’s very funny!

ROSS: Great, maybe we can come down and do an another exclusive interview there with you?

TOYAH:Yeah!

ROSS: That’ll be excellent. Now how long are you staying at the festival for today?

TOYAH:I’ve only got a couple of hours and it’s chocka!

ROSS: Mmm, I can imagine. Sue Juno who’s taking you around was saying to me everything is on such a tight time scale: you must get in at the exact time, she’s got to go out -

TOYAH:Well she got me sitting on this seat just as you said I was going to talk to you (laughs)

ROSS: It’s fantastic. We were actually going to play a song, and then bring you in afterwards and you came down and sat down exactly the right moment, it’s fantastic.

TOYAH:Well, it’s timing.

ROSS: It’s a wonderful job.

TOYAH:It’s timing, it’s timing.ROSS: It is. So what’s the plan for the future? More music, more TV?

TOYAH: Well love work - I was at the Estonian Embassy last night coz they want me and my husband to go out and play Estonia, put it on the world map which I think is very generous of them which we’re going to … umm but music is just growing and growing and growing and it astounds me because I’m 48 this year and my husband’s 60. My husband, who’s Robert Fripp (below with Toyah) of King Crimson officially retired a year ago and he’s working more now than I’ve never known him work! So I think it’s going to be a very busy time.

I also produce. I’m producing a game show for Channel Fiveand I’m producing an English movie as well which I’ve co-written. I love producing, I love all being bossy and saying “Are you going to do this and do that?” (Ross laughs) So that’s going on and I’m up for a rock musical that’s been made as a 7 part series for BBC ONE which hasn’t got its green light yet but I’ve been in talks about … so future is bright.

ROSS: Incredible. I didn’t know you were producing coz that’s my background as well, I spent many years as a producer -

TOYAH:Oh I love producing!

ROSS: It is, it’s great fun.

TOYAH:I had a film company called British American in the 90’s which was very hard work so what I decided to do this time round I only produce what I write which means that … gives you more passion and more determination to get things made.

ROSS: Yeah definitely right. That’s fantastic. Now we have a lot of business listeners on this program, a lot of corporate programs. If they wanted to book you to do one of these motivational talking events - do they come through the website or through an agent?

TOYAH:Well all my contacts are on the website but I speak exclusively for Womenspeakers.co.uk which is run by the cartoonist Bill Tidy’s daughter called Sylvia Tidy-Harris and she’s just so powerful, I love working with her. And she books women out to do motivational speaking. For instance two weeks ago I spoke at Leicester Walkers Football Stadium -

ROSS: Oh right.

TOYAH:- to about thousand Hindu women. I LOVED it because these women were just full of light and enthusiasm and their whole culture is so positive and we had a great time and felt really guilty coz I talk about my rock’n’roll years which are pretty wild and you’re crossing cultural divides here! “Oh am I pushing the boat out too far?” and they loved it! They thought it was outrageous!ROSS: It’s such a wide range of things you’re doing isn’t it?

TOYAH:Well I like to work, I don’t look forward to days off, I never have.

ROSS: And you’re so down to earth and other people have told me this they said “Oh you’ll find her so easy to talk to” - (Toyah guffaws) “She’s so down to earth!”

TOYAH: Well I’m very diverse because after the stadium I went to talk prisonofficers in Ipswich the following day! And again I though “Oh god I’m pushing the boat out too far here” because I do get quite outrageous and as a performer I find that I wear less and less on stage as I get older just as a statement waving the flag for middle aged women.

And I show a lot of pictures and this one picture came up of a transvestite friend of mine who is naked but had my make-up on and a wig like my hair and I’m standing next to him about to go on stage and I said this is what I do now, at the age of 48! (both laugh) I wear less clothes and I work with naked men! And it’s a very good way of breaking the ice!ROSS: I should think it is yeah!

TOYAH: In very institutional talks!

ROSS: We’ll have to come and see you on tour, no question about it, we’ll have to come and see your show. I haven’t seen you on stage for an awful long time so now that I know you’re touring again, I’ll have to get the tour dates -

TOYAH:Yeah.

ROSS: - and come along and watch one of your shows

TOYAH:Oh yeah!

ROSS: I look forward to that. That’ll be great fun. Now I know you’re busy and you’ve got to go to another stand. Now just before you go: what sort of stands would you like to visit? If you had all day here- what would be your favourite?

TOYAH:Well OK. I’m a jewellery freak and there’s a lot of jewellery here and so…jewellery stands but that said I do like Tarot reading and hand writing reading and all of that. It’s fun and those are my kind of places …

ROSS: Fantastic. Toyah, thank you so much for joining us today and taking time out from your busy schedule, it’s been an absolute delight talking to you.

TOYAH:Thank you!

ROSS: And I hope we can come down and see you and talk again in St Austell.TOYAH: I’ll look out for you!

ROSS: That’ll be fantastic! Thank you very much -my quest Toyah Willcox.

TOYAH! TOYAH! TOYAH!(1984), Mayhem (1985), BEST OF TOYAH (1994), LIVE & MORE (1998)
PROUD, LOUD & HEARD - THE BEST OF TOYAH (1998), THE SAFARI RECORDS SINGLES COLLECTION
PART 1: 1979-1981 (2005), THE SAFARI RECORDS SINGLES COLLECTION PART 2: 1981-1983 (2005), GOOD MORNING UNIVERSE
THE VERY BEST OF TOYAH (1979-2003) (2008)

COLLABORATIONS(FULL ALBUMS)

TOYAH with Robert FRIPP "The Lady Or The Tiger" (1986), SUNDAY ALL OVER THE WORLD (Toyah with Robert Fripp)
"Kneeling At The Shrine" (1991), THE HUMANS (Toyah, Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong) "We Are The Humans" (2009), "This Fragile Moment"
(Toyah, Markus Reuter, Arvo Urb, Chris Wong and Robert Jurjendal)(2009), THE HUMANS "Sugar Rush" (2011, The Humans "Strange Tales" (2014)

(Above) out of the blue (1993), now and then (1994), little tears of love EP (2002), Latex messiah (viva the rebel in you) (2007), download only / also on the "in the court of the crimson queen" album (2008),
Fallen (Yomanda Ft. Toyah (2011), 21st Century Supersister (2011)